Cruzer: I Hate Trump, But Will Vote for Him Because of the Never Trump Crowd

CALLER: Rush, I just want to say that I’m gonna end up voting for Trump, and I hate him. I probably never would except these people pushing these Never Trump campaigns, like Bill Kristol and Ben Shapiro, and all these talking eggheads that want us to vote their way. They can’t accept that we won’t take an establishment candidate. It’s making me want Trump. I don’t like Trump at all.

RUSH: This is interesting. In fact, you used the word “hate.”

CALLER: Yes.

RUSH: You said you hate Trump. You were a Cruzer. You hate Trump, but you’re gonna vote for Trump because you don’t like what these third-party types are doing, Bill Kristol and some of the others. What bothers you about that?

CALLER: Well, I wanted Ted Cruz very badly because I wanted a conservative and a man with a good moral compass. And what we have is Donald Trump, who does whatever the wind seems to lead him to do, but he does it very effectively and he does it with panache and people want him because he’s bold and will say what’s on his mind. But I want somebody who’s grounded. And now we have these people in the leadership of what seems to be the in-crowd, the Beltway, they’re saying we have to have, I don’t know, a Romney or one of these other candidates that won’t win also, and it just seems like they’re trying to make sure Trump doesn’t win. And that will just give it to Hillary, who I will not have. I will vote for Trump happily over Hillary.

RUSH: Let me interrupt you here and share with you why this is happening. I’m holding here in my formerly nicotine-stained fingers excerpts from a column, an interview by a Wall Street Journal columnist by the name of Bret Stephens.

“Pressed by host Fareed Zakaria if he was going to get behind Trump as the Republican nominee, conservative columnist Bret Stephens got right to the point.

‘I most certainly will not vote for Donald Trump,’ Stephens began tersely. ‘I will vote for the least left-wing opponent to Donald Trump and I want to make a vote that makes sure he is the biggest loser in presidential history since, I don’t know, Alf Landon.’

“Then Stephens went off: ‘It’s important that Donald Trump, or what he represents, this kind of quote “ethnic conservatism or populism,” be so decisively rebuked that the Republican Party and the Republican voters will forever learn their lesson that they cannot nominate a man so manifestly unqualified to be president in any way, shape or form. So they have to learn a lesson perhaps the way Democrats learned a lesson from McGovern in ’72.'”

It’s what I’ve always told you, as far as the elites and the establishment, you people are gonna have to get your minds right. You’re gonna have to learn how big a bunch of screw-ups you are. You’re gonna have the biggest landslide defeat in history so that you finally learn never, ever again stray from what the establishment is commanding you to do. And that’s guiding a lot of this Never Trumpism.

These reports are all over the Drive-By Media now, how in the Trump press conference, “He called us names! He called us a sleaze! He called us liars! He called us dishonest!” What they don’t know, is there are all kinds of people out there (clapping) applauding it. They probably do know that. Here’s is Bret Stephens. We actually have the audio of Bret Stephens — just read his quote to you — the Wall Street Journal. Here he is. So Fareed Zakaria Global Position Satellite on Sunday morning. Zakaria’s question: “You have written eloquently against Donald Trump from the beginning. The rest of the Republican establishment has collapsed and surrendered and entered his not particularly warm embrace. Are you going to vote for Donald Trump in the fall?”

STEPHENS: I most certainly will not vote for Donald Trump. I want to make a vote to make sure that he is the biggest loser in presidential history. It’s important that Donald Trump and what he represents — this kind of ethnic, quote, “conservatism” or populism — be so decisively rebuked that the Republican Party and Republican voters will forever learn their lesson, that they cannot nominate a man so manifestly unqualified to be president in any way, shape, or form.

RUSH: Trump has really gotten under these guys’ skin, I think, on this whole immigration thing. They think… (interruption) No, wait, wait, wait! They are the arbiters of conservatism, Mr. Snerdley. They are the ones that define it. They’re the ones that tell us what conservatism is and what it isn’t, and who is and who isn’t is a conservative, and what’s legit and illegitimate and so forth. I mean, that’s who they are, and they’re big open-borders people over there at the Journal, which is why I’m guessing… I don’t know for sure.

I’ve never met Bret Stephens, but I’m guessing that Trump’s position on illegal immigration is one of the things, although I’m sure there are many more things that Bret Stephens… Look, there are a lot of conservatives in the… Oh, I don’t know. How would you categorize it? Think tank conservatives, Washington media conservatives. There are a lot of them want no part of this. “I mean, Trump’s not in any way, shape, manner conservative. This is the most damaging thing to conservatism that’s ever come down the pike, and people think Trump is one.”

(interruption)

Damaging…?

(interruption)

What do you mean, “so condescending”?

Of course, that’s the whole point!

That’s why the ruling class says, “Okay! Okay! You go out, and you’re gonna learn your lesson. You’re gonna go out there, you’re gonna vote the way we don’t want you to vote, and we’re gonna let you know what a big mistake you’ve made. You’re gonna learn…” I’ve warned people of this attitude. The quote/unquote “conservative movement…” (sigh) I don’t have time to get into it right now, but just let’s suffice to say that there are many who are as distressed as this guy is. Bill Kristol’s one. George Will’s another.

You know the names.

They’re just totally distressed at a lot of things.

Some of them are genuinely distressed over what this means for conservatism.

Others, not so much; they’re hiding behind that. Some just don’t like the fact that a non-establishment, nonpolitical professional looks like he can win this. Conservatism’s got nothing to do with it, really. They’re just hiding behind that as their excuse. What really bugs them is that somebody totally unschooled in all of this can come along and make a mockery of them. That’s what’s really driving it for many of them. Some of them are genuine heartfelt conservatives scared to death over what this means for conservatism, not themselves.